I. WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

1. Definition - The book defines psychology as the study of behavior and cognitive processes. What does that mean? Does it mean the same thing to everyone? NO!!





2. Different Definitions of Psychology - Different people in the past and different people today hold a wide variety of views as to what psychology is and what it should study.





3. Wilhelm Wundt - Wundt founded the first psychological lab in 1879 at Leipzig in Germany. He saw psychology as the study of conscious experience. He did this through introspection, asking the person to describe what was doing on in his mind. His student Titchner brought the idea of structuralism to the United States. It was way too dependent on verbal communication and truthfulness of participant. Introspection was an attempt to study psychology as a chemist would study substances.



4. William James - The first American psychologist. He was more interested in how the mind functions. The mind is a whole and you miss the point when you try to break it down into its parts. Develop functionalism as an answer to the problems encountered in introspection or structuralism.


5. John Watson - Watson said "You can't see the mind so how can you study it?" All we can see is observable behavior and that is what psychology should study. Skinner is also widely known for this view.

6. Mary Calkins - First woman to make a career in psychology. But because of prejudices against women in 1895, she never received a Ph.D. The first woman psychologists with a Ph.D. was Margaret Washburn

II. MODERN APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY

1. Overview - Today most psychologists believe overt behavior is central to the field. What leads to behavior is debated however. Therefore there are a variety of perspectives on what is the focus of study.



2. Cognitive Perspective - Cognition means thinking. The cognitive perspective holds that to understand how people behave you have to understand how they think, remember, and decide. That is what determines how they act.



3. Physiological Perspective - Our brain is a complex biochemical organ that affects how we think and how we behave. To understand behavior you must understand the roots of behavior, the working of the brain and nervous system.



4. Sociocultural Perspective - Behavior is strongly influenced by social and cultural factors. To fully understand behavior you have to take into consideration the social and cultural environment in which it occurs.

5. Psychodynamic Perspective - This is based on the work of Sigmund Freud. Freud saw psychology as the study of unconscious because he believed unconscious motivation controlled behavior.

6. Behavioral Perspective - Probably the most dominant perspective today. This is the continuation of Watson's idea that overt behavior is the most important thing to study. A combination of this and the cognitive perspective is also very popular.

III. TRAINING

1. Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist - Many people get these confused. They are similar in that both may work in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. They are different in that a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who may prescribe medication. A psychologist generally has a Ph.D. and cannot prescribe medication.

2. Degrees in Psychology - The lowest degree is a Bachelors degree. There is not much you can do with that. The second level is a Master's degree. This is the lowest level that allows you to practice but you generally need some type of supervision. Most practicing psychologists have a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.). This is the only level for full licensure and independent practice.


IV. PROFESSIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY

1. Clinical Psychology - This is what most people think when they hear the word psychologist. They diagnose and treat mental disorders.

2. Counseling Psychology - The book says they treat people who do not have mental disorders but in reality they do the same thing as clinical psychologists although they are less likely to work with people with severe psychopathology.

3. School Psychology - This is the third of the three main applied areas. They diagnose and treat children with learning, behavioral, and emotional problems with and emphasis on the school environment.

4. Developmental Psychology - They study how people change physically, cognitively, and socially over the lifespan.

5. Educational Psychology - They study psychological principles within an educational environment. They are different from school psychologists because they generally do not work with individual children but focus more on instruction, techniques, etc.

6. Cognitive Psychology - Their focus is on thinking, reasoning, language, and decision making.

7. Industrial/Organizational Psychology - Studies aspects of behavior in work settings such as personnel selection, employee evaluation, work motivation, and leadership.

8. Psychobiology - Also called physiological psychology. They are interested in the brain and how it works.

9. Social Psychology - They are interested in social behavior. How do we act and react based on social information we receive.

10. Experimental Psychology - This covers almost all of the basic areas such as perception, learning, motivation, and animal behavior.

VI. Three Major Philosophical Issues in Psychology

Free-will versus Determinism. Is our behavior pre-determined for us or do we have a say in it?

The Mind-Body Problem. Is the mind (the psychological) separate synchronous or related to the body (physical)? The roots are in philosophy, but a number of early psychologists studied this problem.

Nature versus Nurture. Is behavior due to heredity (nature) or environmental influences (nurture)? A number of evidence goes both ways. This one is difficult to resolve.